HR
and employment law experts cite specific areas where employers need to pay
close attention as the Obama administration continues to roll out its
workplace-related initiatives and guidances over the next four years. And at
least one expert also believes that the Beltway gridlock occurring in the
president's first term and the dragged-out election season needs to be undone.

"Now
that the election results are final, it's time for our elected leaders to focus
on governing," says Cara Woodson Welch, vice president of public policy
and public affairs at WorldatWork, the nonprofit HR association for
professionals and organizations focused on compensation, benefits, work/life
effectiveness and total rewards. "There are numerous issues pending that
will impact HR and total-rewards professionals. Early on, employers should
expect most new policy affecting human resource professionals to be generated
on the regulatory side through federal agencies."

Woodson
adds that employers/HR professionals should pay close attention to the various
agencies to see if regulations are issued on healthcare, executive compensation
and possibly the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act.

"All
of these regulations could be issued and finalized within the next six
months," she says.

The
Affordable Care Act arguably represents one of the most critical
workplace-related fronts for a second Obama term, now that GOP promises of
repealing or defanging the law have been rendered wishful thinking.

Jay
Krupin, National Labor and Employment Practice team leader for industry sectors
at Baker Hostetler, a global law firm based in New York, says that, in terms of
the ongoing rollout of healthcare reform, employers should be ready for action.

"Employers
must be prepared for the wide range of healthcare changes that will be put into
place and will certainly impact their workforce," he says.

According
to Steve Wojcik, vice president of public policy at the National Business Group
on Health, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that represents large
employers on national health-policy issues, the remaining ACA provisions --
especially the major ones in 2014 such as the individual mandate, Medicaid expansion,
etc. -- will be fully implemented, even if the rollout schedule is amended.

"Our
membership has been very committed to implementing the ACA. From the start,
they viewed it as the law of the land," Wojcik says. "But
uncertainties remain. NBGH members have been going forward with whatever comes
online, but there was a slowdown by the administration and [as a result of the
law's complexity] now upcoming regulations need to be detailed.

"Time
is getting short and employers need to plan," he says. "There are
lots of unanswered questions. The Obama administration is way behind on
specifics about some regulations."

In
fact, a pre-election HR Policy Association bulletin points out that a number of
ACA deadlines are looming. One is the requirement that, on March 1, 2013,
employers notify employees of the availability of state and federal health
exchanges, which are required to be ready for open enrollment on Oct. 1,
2013. However, the Washington-based group adds, it's highly unlikely
these highly complex systems will be in place by that deadline, given the slow
progress being made at both the federal level and among the 50 states.

Also,
according to a WorldatWork bulletin released prior to the election, the
employer disclosure -- under which employers must provide the annual cost of
their group health-insurance coverage to employees on their W-2 forms -- would
take effect as part of the ACA in 2013. So would a reduction in the amount
employees can contribute to health flexible-spending accounts from $5,000
annually to $2,500.

Finally,
among the major changes set for 2014 is the requirement that employers with
more than 50 people provide health insurance or pay a tax penalty.

"The
good news is that the Affordable Care Act set change in motion and
that momentum is not going away," says Tracy Watts, healthcare reform
leader at Mercer in Washington, adding that healthcare reform has been the
impetus for employers to make bold changes and Mercer is seeing slower cost
increases as a result.

"Employers
will continue aiming to improve employee health, lower costs and give consumers
a better experience," she says. "But employers are anxiously awaiting
guidance -- they want to know what the rules are for 2014."

Outside
of healthcare, Baker Hostetler's Krupin says, there are several other key
issues employers need to consider now that President Obama is returning to the
White House -- from potential changes to the NLRB and EEOC to wage-and-hour
issues and pension reform.

Regarding
the future of the NLRB, Krupin says, unions haven't forgotten the promises
President Obama made to them in his first campaign. And, while the president
has had to focus on the pressing issues concerning the economy, it's likely he
would turn his attention back to unions in his second term.

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"That
would involve continuation of the NLRB and their more pro-union stance,"
Krupin says. "This is likely to include revisiting the Employee Free
Choice Act, [and the] time periods for union elections and employee
notifications."

Krupin
also expects new action from the EEOC, explaining that one of the first
expected changes from the EEOC is the addition of sexual orientation as a
protected category.

"Remember,
President Obama demonstrated his commitment to equal pay by signing the Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law as his first bill as president," he says.

Under
the current administration, Krupin says, employers also should expect to see
greater enforcement of wage-and-hour issues.

"The
Obama administration will take on a more aggressive approach with employers in
order to maximize the return for employees," he says. "We can also
expect to see more enforcement and promulgation from the Department of
Labor."

Finally,
on the pension and retirement front, Krupin says, the challenges of our aging
population would have been an issue for either candidate.

"Employers
should expect modification of pension laws across the board."

Scottsdale,
Ariz.-based WorldatWork, as part of its pre-election comparison, believes that the
Obama administration, pointing to success in increasing employee-participation
rates for employers' 401(k) plans, will undoubtedly support similar automatic
enrollment provisions for individual-retirement accounts. The enrollment would
apply to employees at companies that do not offer 401(k) plans, and employees
would have the ability to opt out of the enrollment.

Alan
Glickstein, senior retirement consultant at Towers Watson in Dallas, believes
that no matter who captured the presidency, with the "so-called
"fiscal cliff" looming, there will be a search for revenues, and
pension-plan sponsors must pay attention.

Ironically,
Glickstein says, plan sponsors might actually be better off under an Obama
administration, which will no doubt seek some of those added revenues through
raising taxes. With Mitt Romney's pledge to reduce taxes across the board, the
search for added revenues could have made retirement plans an
"attractive" target through added fees and other revenue-extracting
strategies.

Glickstein
says that the Obama win should mean tax revenue plus budget cuts, while a
Romney win would have meant no added tax revenue (actually a tax cut) and even
deeper budget cuts. As a result, the latter scenario would have been tougher on
plan sponsors.

"Pension-plan
sponsors still have to be concerned with any search for revenue, but, with an
Obama administration, that search will not be quite as frantic because there
will be tax revenues," he says.